President Donald Trump continued to field questions during his daily press briefings amid the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, he got into a terse back-and-forth with CBS reporter Weijia Jiang. Fielding a question about his initial plan to combat the spread of COVID-19, Trump ended up cutting off Jiang, urging her to keep her “voice down.” The brief sparring saw both parties interrupt one another as Jiang pressed him on the subject at hand.
The comment in question came when Trump asked Jiang how many cases were in the country before his decision to issue a travel ban. Jiang quipped back before Trump motioned his hand up, saying, “Keep your voice down, please. Keep your voice down.” The exchange caught the attention of Gretchen Carlson, who was not appreciative of the interaction.
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This is @weijia with CBS holding Trump’s feet to the fire (again).pic.twitter.com/OW1em7g9tC
— LiA (@LibsInAmerica) April 20, 2020
“Trump is such a misogynistic jerk to female reporters asking legitimate questions about his #COVID19 plan. He says — ‘Keep your voice down’. She wasn’t raising it,” she wrote on Twitter. “Thank you [Weiijia Jiang] for your questions. Keep asking.” Carlson also pointed out another moment in which he did the same with a male reporter, “Trump’s also a jerk to the [CNN] male reporter — and now he’s comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln!! Please ….”
Carlson put out a few more tweets concerning the press briefing and his interactions with female reporters. She signaled out one particular male reporter who took a stand during the session.
Thank you @DanaBashCNN for defending women like @weijia when trump told her to keep her voice down and relax. No doubt there is a difference in the way he treats women and it’s horrible.
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) April 19, 2020
Trump has remained busy in his efforts to get his three-phase plan for reopening the economy up and running. “”America wants to be open, and Americans want to be open,” Trump said on Friday. “Based on the latest data, our team of experts agree we can start the next front in our war, which we are calling Opening Up America Again, and that is what we are doing, opening up our country, and we have to do that.”
The president also revealed that he will be giving powers to each state governor to determine when it is safe to reopen their state and begin to lift restrictions.
